This invention relates to the flow of air through the grill of an air conditioning unit and in particular to reducing the noise level produced by such air flow.
Air conditioning units, including heat pump units, typically include grill structure which prevents entry of foreign objects into the unit while allowing the free flow of air. The flow of air is into the unit if it is the condensing unit or section of an air conditioning system. The flow of air is out of the unit if it is an evaporating unit.
A fan normally defines the flow of air into or out of the unit. Today""s fans are capable of producing a high flow of air through the grill. This may result in unacceptable noise levels as the air flows through the grill structure. It would be preferable to have a grill structure which would lower these unacceptable noise levels.
A grill for an air conditioning unit is provided which reduces the level of noise produced by the flow of air through the grill. The grill may be of any shape necessary to accommodate the particular unit in which it is installed. The grill preferably has one or more grill members wrapped with wire so as to present a varying topographical surface to the flow of air over the grill member. The wire wrapping may be formed in various ways including twisted strands of wire thereafter wrapped around the one or more grill members. The wire may also be a single piece of wire having spaced protrusions so as to disrupt the flow of air when wrapped around one or more grill members. Another embodiment is a round wire that is flattened at various intervals so as to present a discontinuous shaped wire wrapped around one or more grill members.